Hair-curling devices



Oct. 8,1968 w.HAM|-AAEL 3,404,594 HAIR-CURLING- DEVICES Filed July 1s. '1965 MEL' moms w. n

ATTO ENE VS United States Patent O 3,404,694 HAIR-CURLING DEVICES Thomas W. Hammel, Mrs. Cottrell, 1277 S. Barclay Place, North Brunswick, NJ. 08902 Filed July 13, 1965, Ser. No. 471,658 7 Claims. (Cl. 132-40) The present invention relates generally to hair curling devices and pertains more specifically to devices for forming and retaining a tress of hair upon a hollow tubular body by means of hair retaining clips.

1t has been the practice in hair curling, permanent Waving and like hair forming operations to wind tresses of hair about the outer surface of hollow tubular bodies, generally in the form of cylindrical mandrels or rollers, and retain each tress upon its corresponding roller by means of hair retaining clips which clamp the hair against the outer surface. Usually, the clips and rollers are supplied separately and the user or operator must place each clip upon the rolled tress as each tress is formed upon a roller. Such methods require the operator to hold the hair in place manually while reaching for a clip and hence require that an adequate supply of loose clips be readily available. Reaching for loose clips generally disrupts the continuity of the hair curling operation and results in loss of time as well as the establishment of a source of continual annoyance. Often, clips will be dropped, lost or damaged in the process, all to the detriment of the person whose hair is being curled.

It is therefore an important object of the invention to provide a hair curling device for forming and retaining a tress of hair wherein the hair is formed over a tubular body and at least one clip is in such assembled relationship with the body as to have the clip readily available for use in retaining the hair upon the body after the forming is complete.

AnotherV object of the invention is to provide means by which generally available hair curling rollers may be equipped with hair retaining clips in such assembled relationship with the rollers as to render the clips readily available to the user during hair curling operations.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a hair curling device as described above, which device will enhance hair curling operations without requiring a radical departure in the structure of or technique of using cornmonly available hair rollers or clips.

A Ifurther object of the invention is to provide a hair curling device which is inexpensive to fabricate and attains improved results through increased ease of operation.

The invention may be described briefly as a hair curling device for forming and retaining a tress of hair and contemplates a hollow tubular body including a wall and having an exterior surface and an interior surface and extending axially between opposite first and second ends. At least one hair retaining clip is provided having a pair of clamping arms projecting generally axially inwardly in a direction from the first end toward the second end such that the wall may be received between the arms when the clip is engaged over the first end for clamping a tress of hair against the exterior surface of the body, the clip being capable of reception within the interior of the body when not in such clamping engagement. A bulkhead is provided within the interior of the body extending transverse to the axial extent of the wall and providing a seating surface displaced axially from the first end a distance substantially equal to the axial extent of the clip. An abutment means is placed upon one of the arms adjacent the inwardmost limit thereof and provides a base at that limit for engaging the seating surface when the clip is not in clamping engagement with the wall. An elastic member cooperates with the bulkhead and the clip for biasing the abutment means into engagement with the seating surface 3,404,694 Patented Oct. 8, 1968 such that the clip is retained within the interior of the body when not in clamping engagement with the wall with both arms of the clip extending generally axially therein and the clip being in position for ready grasping and movement axially against the biasing force of the elastic member into the aforesaid clamping engagement.

The invention will be more fully understood and further objects and advantages will become apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, partially broken away, illustrating a device constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the device shown ready for use;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device shown in use;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view of certain component parts of the device; and

FIGURE 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

Referring now to the drawings, a hair curling device constructed in accordance with the invention is designated generally at 10 in FIGURE 1 and is seen to have a hollow tubular body 12 which is in the form of a mandrel or roller. The body 12 includes a relatively thin generally cylindrical wall 14 which provides an external surface 16 and an internal surface 18 extending axially between opposite first and second ends 20 and 22, respectively. Perforations 24 are provided in wall 14 for allowing ventilation during the use of the device as will be explained hereinafter.

Ordinarily, hair curling mandrels or rollers, such as that represented by tubular body 12, are employed in forming hair by wrapping a tress over the cylindrical external surface of the roller and then clamping the tress to the wall of the body by passing a hair retaining clip over the end of the wall and the tress. At this point,I the hair is usually already wet, or will be moistened subsequently so that at some time while the tress is wrapped over the roller, the hair will be wet. Drying of the hair is effected while the tress is formed and retained on the roller; hence, the presence of ventilation perforations in the wall of the rollers is desirable for promoting the necessary drying.

lIn order that hair retaining clips are readily available to an operator for clamping a trees of hair wrapped about external surface 16 of wall 14 in device 10 and to assure that such clips readily fall to hand, the device of the invention is provided with a bulkhead 26 fixed within the interior of body 12 by means of a flange portion 28 (see FIGURES 2 and 3). The bulkhead provides seating surfaces 30 at either face thereof, which Surfaces run transverse to the axial extent of wall 14 of body 12 and in the illustrated embodiment lie in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body. The bulkhead may be provided with a multiplicity of perforations 34 for increasing ventilation as described above. A central aperture 36 is provided for purposes which will now be explained.

Two hair retaining clips 40 are illustrated, each having a pair of clamping arms 42 and 44 hinged together at 46 and resiliently urged toward one another by means of a leaf spring 48. Arms 42 are bifurcated, though the actual construction of the arms themselves, the hinge mechanism and the spring mechanism may be varied without affecting the invention. Thus, the handle portions 50` of clips 40 may be urged toward one another against the resilient force of spring 48 to pivot arms 42 and 44 away from one another so that the clip may be passed over an end of the wall 14 of body 12, and the wall can be clamped between arms 42 and 44 by the release of handle portions 50 and the action of spring 48 as seen in the upper right hand portion of FIGURE 1 wherein a clip 40 is clamped over end 22 of wall 14 and in FIGURE 3.

Arm 42 of each clip 40 is provided with an anchor block 52 fixed thereto at the extremity thereof and having an abutment means in the form of base 54, each of which also lies transverse to the longitudinal axis of body 12 and has a generally planar configuration. As best seen in FIGURES 4 and 5, a groove S6 extends axially through each anchor block 52 and base 54 and has axially directed locking lips 58 for retaining an elastic member shown in the form of an elongated elastic strip 60 within the groove. The elastic strip 60 is retained axially by means of an enlarged end portion in the form of a collar 62 being seated against the far end 64 of each anchor 52 as will be explained hereinafter.

Returning now to FIGURE 2, elastic strip 60 is seen lodged within each groove 56 and passes through aperture 36 in bulkhead 26. The unstretched or relaxed length of strip 60 is such that the strip must be stretched or tensioned somewhat in order to seat each collar 62 against each far end 64 of each anchor block 52. The tension thus established in the elastic strip will exert a force tending to bias the bases 54 against the respective seating surfaces 30. Since both the bases 54 and the seating surfaces 30 are generally planar and therefore have mutually cooperating configurations the biasing force will seat the bases upon the seating surfaces and the clips 40 will extend generally axially with arms 42 and 44 extending generally axially inwardly from handle poritons 50 which are now located so as to readily fall to the hand of the operator using device 10. Thus, clips 40 lie within body 12 ready for use whenever desired.

Initially, device is used a manner similar to ordinary hair forming mandrels and rollers in that a tress of hair, illustrated at 66 in FIGURE 3, is first wrapped around external surface 16. However, rather than reach for external clips to engage and retain the hair on the body 12, an operator need merely grasp the handle portion 50 of a clip 40 and draw the clip axially away from bulkhead 26, against the biasing force of elastic strip `60 (as seen in FIGURE 4), until the clip is moved beyond the corresponding end of the Wall of the body. The Clamping arms of the clip are then spread away from one another and the clip may be placed in clamping engagement over the tress and the end of the wall of the tubular body to retain the formed hair in place about the body.

yIt is noted that bases 54 are oriented with respect to seating surfaces such that elastic strip 60` will maintain clips at an angle to the axial direction when the clips are retained within the body y12 (FIGURE 2). By placing bases 54 at an angle with respect to the extent Vof arms 42 and 44 of the clips, the clips themselves are angled toward the wall 14 of body 12 so that handle portions are located for easy grasping but are displaced from the central axis of the body so as to allow freedom of movement of an operators fingers during the actual hair curling operation. Thus, the internal location of the clips within the body when not in use assures that they will not interfere with the wrapping of the tress of hair about the exterior of the body, while maintaining a central location for aperture 36. The central location of aperture 36 assures that clips 40 can be placed in clamping engagement anywhere about the periphery of the wall of body 12 with ease. The angle of the bases is chosen to place the handle portions 50 where they will fall readily to hand so that it is an easy matter for an operator to reach within the interior of body 12, grasp the handle portion 50 and pull the clips out for use, while assuring that the clips do not interfere with hair wrapping operations when not in use.

Since the elastic strip 60 must be stretched (see FIG- URE 4) each time a clip 40 is moved into or out of clamping engagement and since the amplitude of such stretching which can be accomplished with ease and without damage to the strip is proportional to the length of the strip, it is desirable to incorporate a strip having at least a length compatible with such considerations. On the other hand, bulkhead 26 should be of minimal axial thickness so that seating surfaces 30 may be displaced from the respective ends 20 and 22 of body 12 an axial distance great enough to accommodate clips 40 within body 12 and not projecting beyondthe ends of the body a distance so great as to interfere with hair wrapping operations. Such a distance is shown to equal the axial length of clips 40. In order to provide for an elastic strip long enough to accomplish the desired result, anchor blocks 52 are given an axial length long enough so that the distance between far ends 64, and hence between collars 62 at the extremities of elastic strip 60, is great enough to permit the employment of a strip having adequate length to allow sufficient easy axial movement of the clips while providing an adequate biasing force when the anchor blocks are seated against the blockhead. The grooved construction of the anchor blocks allows easy replacement of the elastic strip, should eventual failure of the strip occur.

It will be apparent that the invention may be adapted for use with hair rollers commercially available having a configuration similar to ythat of tubular body 12. Such an adaptation may be accomplished by inserting an assembly lcomprised of clips 40 (with anchor blocks 52 attached), bulkhead 26 and elastic strip 60 into a hair roller and fixing the bulkhead therein. The bulkhead may be fixed within Lthe tubular body by a friction t between flange 28 and internal surface 18, by an adhesive, by detent means engaging one or more of the perforations 34 or by similar assembly means. The invention could also be practiced with only one clip, rather than two, by merely anchoring the elastic strip on some structure, other than a second clip, which would allow the strip to bias the abutment means of the one clip against the seating surface of the bulkhead.

It is understood that the above detailed description of an embodiment of the invention is provided by way of example only and is not intended to limit the invention. Various details of design and construction may be modified without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A hair curling device for forming andl retaining a tress of hair, said -device comprising:

a hollow tubular body including a wall having an exterior surface and an interior surface and extending axially between opposite first and second ends;

,at least one hair retaining clip having a pair of clamping arms. projecting generally axially inwardly in a direction from said first end toward said second end such that said wall may be received between said arms when the clip is engaged over the first end for clamping a tress of hair against Said exterior surface, said clip being capable of reception within the interior of said body when not in such clamping engagement;

a bulkhead within the interior of 'said body extending transverse to the axial extent of said wall and providing a seating surface displaced axially from said rst end a distance substantially equal to the axial extent of said clip;

abutment means upon one of the arms adjacent the inwardmost limit thereof and providing a base at said limit for engaging said seating surface when said clip is not in said clamping engagement; and

an elastic member cooperatively related with the bulkhead and the clip for biasing said abutment means into engagement with said seating surface such that the clip is retained within the interior of the body when not in said `clamping engagement with said wall with both said arms extending generally axially therein and said clip being in position for ready grasping and movement axially against the biasing force of said elastic member into said clamping engagement.

2. A hair curling device of claim 1 wherein the seating surface and the base are oriented relative to one another such that said clip is at an angle to the axial direction when in said position.

3. A hair curling device of claim 2 wherein said elastic member comprises an elongated elastic strip, said strip passing through said seating surface and said base and being anchored to said clip axially outwardly beyond said base a distance sufficient to provide the elasticity necessary to achieve the retention of the base against the seating surface while permitting said axial movement of the clip into clamping engagement.

4. A hair curling device of Iclaim 3 wherein said abutment means comprises an anchor block xed to said one arm, said anchor block including opposite ends with said base at one end thereof and a groove running axially therethrough, said elastic strip being received within said groove and including an enlarged collar engaging said anchor block at the opposite end thereof.

5. A hair curling device for forming and retaining a tress of hair, said device comprising:

a hollow tubular body including -a cylindrical wall having an exterior surface and an interior surface and extending axially between opposite ends;

a pair of hair 4retaining clips each hav-ing a pair of clamping arms extending generally axially inwardly in a direction from one said end toward the opposite end such that portions of the wall adjacent both ends may be received between the arms of a clip when each clip is engaged over a respective end for clamping a tress of hair against said exterior surface, said clips being capable of reception within the interior of said body when not in such clamping engagement;

a bulkhead within the interior of said body extending transverse to the axial extent of said wall and providing seating surfaces each displaced axially from a respective end a distancesubstantially equal to the axial extent of -a corresponding clip;

an anchor block fixed to one arm of each clip adjacent the inwardmost limit o'f said arm, said block providing a base at said limit for engaging -a corresponding seating surface when the corresponding clip is not in said clamping engagement, and a groove running axially through each said block; and

an elonagted elastic strip passing axially through the bulkhead and through each groove in each said anchor block, said strip including a pair of enlarged collars, one engaging each said anchor block, for biasing each said base into engagement with a corresponding seating surface such that each clip is retained within the interior of the body when not in said clamping engagement with said wall, said bases each being at an angle with respect to the direction of the extent of the arms of each clip such that the said engagement of a base with a corresponding seating surface will position each clip at an angle to the axial direction for ready grasping and movement 4axially against the biasing force of said elastic strip into said clamping engagement.

6. A hair retaining clip assembly for use in conjunction with a hair roller having a hollow tubular body including a wall with an exterior surface and an interior surface and extending axially between opposite ends, said assembly comprising:

va pair of hair retaining clips each having apair of clamping arms for receiving portions of Said wall adjacent both ends between the arms of a clip when each clip is engaged over a respective end to clamp a tress of hair against said exterior surface, said clips being capable of reception within the interior of said body with said arms extending generally axially inwardly when not in such clamping eng-agement;

a bulkhead insertable within the interior of said body for extending transverse to the axial extent of said wall and for providing seating surfaces each displaced axially from a respective end a distance substantially equal to the axial extent of a corresponding clip;

an anchor block fixed to one arm of each clip providing a base, said base engaging a corresponding seating surface, and a groove running axially through each said block; and

an elonagted elastic strip passing axially through the bulkhead and through each said groove, said strip including a pair of enlarged collars, one engaging each said anchor block and biasing each said base into engagement with a corresponding seating surface such that each clip will be retained within the interior of the body when the bulkhead is secured in said body and the clips are not in said clamping engagement with said wall, said bases each being -at an angle with respect to the direction of the extent of the arms of each clip such that the said engagement of a base with a corresponding seating surface positions each clip at an angle to the axial direction for ready grasping and movement axially against the biasing force of said elastic strip into said clamping engagement.

7. A hair retaining clip assembly for use in conjunction with a hair roller having a hollow tubular body including a wall with an exterior surface and an interior surface and extending axially between opposite ends, said assembly comprising:

at least one hair retaining clip having a pair of clamping arms for receiving a portion of said Wall adjacent the end thereof between the arms of the clip when the clip is engaged over the end to clamp a tress of hair against said exterior surface, said clip being capable of reception within the interior of said body with said arms extending generally axially inwardly when not in such clamping engagement;

a bulkhead insertable within the interior of said body for extending transverse to the axial extent of said Wall and for providing a seating surface displaced axially from said end a distance substantially equal to the axial extent of the clip;

an anchor block fixed to one arm ofI the clip providing a base, said base engaging the seating surface, and a groove running axially through said block; and

an elongated elastic strip passing axially through the bulkhead and through said groove, said strip including an enlarged collar engaging said anchor block and biasing said base into engagement with the seating surface such that the clip will be retained within the interior of the body when the bulkhead is secured in said body and the clip is not in said clamping engagement with said wall, said base being at an angle with respect to the direction of the extent of the arms of the clip such that the said engagement of the base with the seating surface positions the clip at an angle to the axial direction for ready grasping and movement axially against the biasing force of said elastic strip into said clamping engagement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,811,973 11/1957 Pileggi et al 132-37 2,852,029 9/ 1959 Steele 132-42 3,092,118 6/1963 Otto et al 132-52 X 3,175,562 3/1965 Reed 132-39 3,216,427 11/ 1965 Jelferson 132-40 3,241,561 3/1966 Richmond 132-40 3,289,680 12/ 1966 Kubiak 132-40 LOUIS G. KMANCENE, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HAIR CURLING DEVICE FOR FORMING AND RETAINING A TRESS OF HAIR, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING: A HOLLOW TUBULAR BODY INCLUDING A WALL HAVING AN EXTERIOR SURFACE AND AN INTERIOR SURFACE AND EXTENDING AXIALLY BETWEEN OPPOSITE FIRST AND SECOND ENDS; AT LEAST ONE HAIR RETAINING CLIP HAVING A PAIR OF CLAMPING ARMS PROJECTING GENERALLY AXIALLY INWARDLY IN A DIRECTION FROM SAID FIRST END TOWARD SAID SECOND END SUCH THAT SAID WALL MAY BE RECEIVED BETWEEN SAID ARMS WHEN THE CLIP IS ENGAGED OVER THE FIRST END FOR CLAMPING A TRESS OF HAIR AGAINST SAID EXTERIOR SURFACE, SAID CLIP BEING CAPABLE OF RECEPTION WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF SAID BODY WHEN NOT IN SUCH CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT; A BULKHEAD WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF SAID BODY EXTENDING TRANSVERSE TO THE AXIAL EXTENT OF SAID WALL AND PROVIDING A SEATING SURFACE DISPLACED AXIALLY FROM SAID FIRST END A DISTANCE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE AXIAL EXTENT OF SAID CLIP; ABUTMENT MEANS UPON ONE OF THE ARMS ADJCENT THE INWARDMOST LIMIT THEREOF AND PROVIDING A BASE AT SAID LIMIT FOR ENGAGING SAID SEATING SURFACE WHEN SAID CLIP IS NOT IN SAID CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT; AND AN ELASTIC MEMBER COOPERATIVELY RELATED WITH THE BULKHEAD AND THE CLIP FOR BIASING SAID ABUTMENT MEANS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SEATING SURFACE SUCH THAT THE CLIP IS RETAINED WITHIN THE INTERIOR OF THE BODY WHEN NOT IN SAID CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID WALL WITH BOTH SAID ARMS EXTENDING GENERALLY AXIALLY THEREIN AND SAID CLIP BEING IN POSITION FOR READY GRASPING AND MOVEMENT AXIALLY AGAINST THE BIASING FORCE OF SAID ELASTIC MEMBER INTO SAID CLAMPING ENGAGEMENT. 